Hypermobility
& EDS
A decade of research behind the treatment.
We support patients with hypermobility and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) with a multi-disciplinary approach that combines advanced biomechanics, movement rehabilitation, and evidence-based support strategies, built on doctoral research and peer-reviewed publication, not on interest alone.
Being bendy is not the problem. Being bendy and sore is.
Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) together describe symptomatic hypermobility: joint hypermobility presenting with pain, joint instability and soft tissue injury, and often a broad range of systemic comorbidities. The chronic pain and functional impairment that follow can significantly limit what someone can take part in. That definition is drawn from Dr Mo’s doctoral research.
Ten years of work in one field
Very few clinicians in Australia work in symptomatic hypermobility at this level. This is the trail that sits behind that.
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2017
The research begins
Dr Mo starts researching symptomatic hypermobility in children, and enrols in a doctoral program while continuing to practise, the clinical work and the research running alongside each other from the outset.
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2021
A systematic review of the evidence
Published in BMC Pediatrics: a systematic review of the outcome measures used to track change over time in symptomatic children with hypermobility: establishing what the field could actually measure before setting out to improve it.
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2022
Published in JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Validation of an electronic pain scale against the traditional paper scale in 43 children with HSD and hEDS, so pain in this group can be tracked reliably between appointments.
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2022
Invited to speak in Rome
Invited speaker at the EDS International Conference, the field’s main global gathering of clinicians and researchers.
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2023
Orthoses shown to reduce pain in hypermobile children
Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: after one month wearing custom orthoses, children reported a mean pain reduction of 27 points out of 100, alongside improved quality of life, walking distance and fatigue.
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2024
Awarded PhD in joint hypermobility
Dr Mo’s doctorate at the University of Newcastle, on the impact of podiatric management for children and adolescents with generalised joint hypermobility and lower limb pain.
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2025
Mapping how hypermobile children actually move
A case-control study of 27 children with generalised joint hypermobility against 25 matched peers, finding significant differences in hip rotation, Q-angle, ankle range of motion and foot posture: the mechanics that treatment has to account for.
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2025
Speaking at the Gold Coast
Invited speaker at the Australian podiatry conference, and publication of the doctoral thesis behind this work: assessing and managing symptomatic hypermobility in children and adolescents.
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2026
SEP · 18
Charles Sturt University podiatry symposium
UpcomingInvited speaker, September 2026.
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2026
SEP · 12
Musculoskeletal Podiatry in Focus: APodA professional development series
UpcomingPresenting Prescribing Foot Orthoses with Confidence: The Flat and Cavus Foot, and leading the workshop Under the Hood: Evaluating Orthosis Features and How They Work. Event details
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2026
NOV
Australian Podiatry Association paediatric conference
UpcomingSpeaker, November 2026.
Where the expertise comes from
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PhD
Joint hypermobility
University of Newcastle, on podiatric management for children and adolescents with generalised joint hypermobility.
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4
Peer-reviewed papers
In international journals, on hypermobility, pain measurement and lower limb biomechanics.
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2
Invited conference talks
The EDS International Conference in Rome, 2022, and the Australian podiatry conference on the Gold Coast, 2025.
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Vice Chair
Australian Paediatric Podiatry Group
Vice Chair, previously Chair, of the national group for paediatric podiatry.
Listed in the international practitioner directory
Dr Mo is a member of The Ehlers-Danlos Society’s International Consortium and is listed in its practitioner directory, one of the routes patients with EDS and HSD use to find clinicians who already know the condition. He collaborates monthly with members of the Consortium worldwide.
- Member, Ehlers-Danlos Society International Consortium
- Monthly collaboration with international EDS researchers and clinicians
- Vice Chair, previously Chair, Australian Paediatric Podiatry Group
- Previously contingent consultant, The Children’s Hospital Westmead
- Member, Sports Medicine Australia and the Australian Podiatry Association
The work, in the journals
Every paper below is publicly available. Follow the link and read it yourself.
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2025
Lower Limb Biomechanical Observations in Hypermobile Children: An Exploratory Case–Control Study
Maarj M, et al.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2025;22(12):1776
27 children with generalised joint hypermobility compared against 25 matched controls. Internal hip rotation, Q-angle, ankle range of motion and foot posture index were all significantly higher in the hypermobile group.
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2024
Assessment and management of children and adolescents with symptomatic hypermobility
Maarj M.
Doctoral thesis, University of Newcastle, published November 2025
The thesis behind the work above: assessing and managing symptomatic hypermobility in children and adolescents.
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2025
Physical and Mechanical Therapies for Lower Limb Problems in Children With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis
Fellas A, Hawke F, Maarj M, Singh-Grewal D, Santos D, Coda A.
Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2025. PMID 41189076
Eleven randomised trials pooled. Foot orthoses produced a statistically and clinically significant reduction in child- and parent-reported foot and ankle pain at three months; physical therapies such as Pilates and underwater exercise reduced lower limb pain over the same period.
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2023
The Impact of Podiatric Intervention on the Quality of Life and Pain in Children and Adolescents with Hypermobility
Maarj M, Pacey V, Tofts L, Clapham M, Coda A.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023;20(17):6623
After one month wearing custom orthoses, children reported reduced pain (mean VAS −27/100), and improved quality of life, six-minute walk distance and fatigue.
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2022
Emerging Tools to Capture Self-Reported Acute and Chronic Pain Outcome in Children and Adolescents: A Literature Review
Turnbull A, Sculley D, Santos D, Maarj M, Chapple L, Gironès X, Fellas A, Coda A.
Medical Sciences, 2022;10(1):6. PMID 35225940
Reviewed the emerging digital tools for capturing children’s own reports of acute and chronic pain, finding that real-time electronic capture reduces recall bias compared with paper-based scales.
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2022
Validation of an Electronic Visual Analog Scale App for Pain Evaluation in Children and Adolescents With Symptomatic Hypermobility: Cross-sectional Study
Maarj M, Pacey V, Tofts L, Clapham M, Gironès Garcia X, Coda A.
JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, 2022;5(4):e41930
Validated a mobile app pain scale against the traditional paper scale in 43 children with HSD and hEDS, so pain can be tracked reliably between appointments.
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2021
Outcome measures for assessing change over time in studies of symptomatic children with hypermobility: a systematic review
Maarj M, Coda A, Tofts L, Williams C, Santos D, Pacey V.
BMC Pediatrics, 2021. PMID 34839813
Synthesised the outcome measures used in longitudinal and interventional studies of children with generalised joint hypermobility and lower limb symptoms: mapping what the field could reliably measure.
What that research changes for you
The point of the work is what happens in the room. Research into how hypermobile limbs load is what a plan gets built from.
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Assess the whole chain
A biomechanical assessment of how the foot, ankle, knee and hip move and load, not the painful joint in isolation.
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Support where it helps
Prescription orthoses, and where more control is needed, custom bracing such as the Richie Brace or a foot orthosis, prescribed to the assessment.
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Build control
Strength and conditioning so the muscles around a hypermobile joint take on more of the work the ligaments are not doing.
“They’ll grow out of it.” Sometimes.
Paediatric hypermobility is where this practice has done most of its research. Growing children with symptomatic hypermobility are often told to wait. Sometimes waiting is right. Where pain is limiting what a child can join in with, it is worth assessing rather than waiting, which is precisely what the 2023 study set out to measure.
This page is general information about our work in hypermobility and EDS, not a diagnosis and not personal medical advice. Hypermobility presents differently in every person. Speak with a podiatrist, your GP or your specialist about your own situation.
